Ok so, to clarify again: we give our visitors with a referral a standardised package that relates to (proven) household size. All of it MUST be non-perishable, and MUST be food. That MUST include a pre-designated quota of carbs/dairy/veg/fruit - all dried or tinned. It is weighed and measured out. We then have a completely separate basket/tray of things like OXO cubes, odds and ends like sachets of mustard, spices, salt and pepper, sauce mixes etc. Then completely separately from that, we have a stock of non-food, non-life or death type stuff, and/or food that is just tasty but is not to keep someone alive. Think little boxes of chocolate, tubs of nesquick, coconut water, Dijon mustard, Ella's kitchen snacks, prawn crackers, Dorito dips - all manner of non-essentials. Then we have a whole baby section (we always hope), and a toiletries section (also hope), that only we have access to, and have discretionary powers over. It is not something anyone takes for granted. The 'extras' are so scarce that we weigh up each person's referral circumstances/general situation/kids etc and pop out the back to get some of these precious extras. Giving a young man that's just left care and is living in a hostel some razors, toothpaste, and deodorant is often met with real tears. Giving a lady, with no recourse to public funds that has just given birth to twins and has been dumped by a feckless partner, some maternity towels and a pack of nappies is uplifting and soul-destroying all at once. People can't just dramatically fix their immediate circumstances, with no savings, unexpected circumstances, disaster, nowhere to live, no access to benefits to tide them over, no family to borrow from. There are depths of poverty that I think a certain poster cannot possibly fathom. For many families it is a cycle, they are born into it, and their children are born into it. It's very difficult to "rise above" your circumstances when you've been given no example or education as to how to do that. I live next to an outstanding school and multi-million pound properties. Over the road is a delapidated estate with a school in special measures right in the middle of it. Same borough, same cute kids, same amount of love, very different outcomes for those kids. Do the kids fortunate enough to be born in the fancy houses 200 metres away and by chance of birth be living in the catchment area of the best state school in the borough, have more right to be fed than the ones born to poor parents over the road? They are going to a shit school and are growing up in poverty. Why is it so outrageous to care about them? I honestly don't care if the parents are "on the sick" or however you put it. Having a shitty start in life is so so so so sooooo bloody unfair. Can we not give them some biscuits??? If let's say 5% of foodbank users have lied and convinced their GP or Social Worker or Job Centre for a referral and I give their kid an advent calendar at Christmas, has that parent "won" really? Has it hurt me to give that kid that treat? Why be so bloody mean and cynical? Why punish the poor and keep their kids in the same cycle? I don't get the anti-poor rhetoric, I really don't?! Nations without benefit systems, or the U.K. In the past, rely heavily on charities, people beg in the streets, their children are born in horrific circumstances, and poverty does not just fix itself, does it? People in Victorian times didn't get their shit together pronto when faced with the workhouse did they? They ended up in the workhouse, because of poverty. Poverty is not something people choose, and if they have chosen it, perhaps we can question what has brought them to that point in their lives. It is unavoidable, for THAT person. You think you could avoid it yourself by using your wits and genius, but this is because you only have your upbringing, your education, your frames of reference to refer to in your mind. YOU probably could avoid poverty, because you're not close enough to the edge. You're at a safe distance from it. If I pick you up now, transport you with £20 in your pocket to a sparse council flat in a tower block, remove your education, remove any possibility of borrowing from friends or family, are you telling me you'd go to the library, read books by Richard Branson and Warren Buffet, learn how to rise to the top of the business world, work three jobs, which even with your lack of education you rise up the ranks to become an exec, buy that council house within a year, start doing inspirational speaking tours about how you clawed your way out of poverty, and could do it all again if need be. I know that I myself am very unlikely to experience first hand true poverty, because I have had too many advantages that will stop that slide, although I'd never say never. Open your mind just a fraction! God forbid one these scroungers gets run over whilst out buying fags with your tax money, and needs the an air ambulance. Can they use it? Or should they check people's national insurance number first to make sure they've paid their way?